US20170372910A1 - Reinforcing structure, vacuum chamber and plasma processing apparatus - Google Patents
Reinforcing structure, vacuum chamber and plasma processing apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20170372910A1 US20170372910A1 US15/630,612 US201715630612A US2017372910A1 US 20170372910 A1 US20170372910 A1 US 20170372910A1 US 201715630612 A US201715630612 A US 201715630612A US 2017372910 A1 US2017372910 A1 US 2017372910A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- beam members
- cover
- reinforcing structure
- ring
- top surface
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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- 230000003014 reinforcing effect Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 76
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 33
- 239000013585 weight reducing agent Substances 0.000 description 9
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000009616 inductively coupled plasma Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 5
- 229910000831 Steel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 4
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 4
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 230000005684 electric field Effects 0.000 description 4
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 4
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000010959 steel Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 3
- PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium oxide Inorganic materials [O-2].[O-2].[O-2].[Al+3].[Al+3] PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 239000000919 ceramic Substances 0.000 description 2
- -1 e.g. Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000005401 electroluminescence Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000004973 liquid crystal related substance Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000001020 plasma etching Methods 0.000 description 2
- 0 *C1CCCC1 Chemical compound *C1CCCC1 0.000 description 1
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052593 corundum Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000003989 dielectric material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003028 elevating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011810 insulating material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005268 plasma chemical vapour deposition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920005989 resin Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 229920006395 saturated elastomer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 238000013341 scale-up Methods 0.000 description 1
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon dioxide Inorganic materials O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 125000006850 spacer group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 238000004544 sputter deposition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002230 thermal chemical vapour deposition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910001845 yogo sapphire Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32458—Vessel
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
- H01L21/302—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to change their surface-physical characteristics or shape, e.g. etching, polishing, cutting
- H01L21/306—Chemical or electrical treatment, e.g. electrolytic etching
- H01L21/3065—Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32009—Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources
- H01J37/32082—Radio frequency generated discharge
- H01J37/321—Radio frequency generated discharge the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
- C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
- C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
- C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
- C23C16/455—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating characterised by the method used for introducing gases into reaction chamber or for modifying gas flows in reaction chamber
- C23C16/45563—Gas nozzles
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32458—Vessel
- H01J37/32477—Vessel characterised by the means for protecting vessels or internal parts, e.g. coatings
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32458—Vessel
- H01J37/32522—Temperature
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32532—Electrodes
Definitions
- the disclosure relates to a reinforcing structure for reinforcing a cover of a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber having the reinforcing structure, and a plasma processing apparatus.
- FPD flat panel display
- LCD liquid crystal display
- plasma processing such as plasma etching, sputtering, plasma CVD or the like is performed on a glass substrate for use in FPD.
- a vacuum chamber which can be evacuated, is used as a processing chamber.
- the vacuum chamber includes a main body and a cover having thicknesses enough to endure a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the vacuum chamber.
- a FPD substrate is considerably scaled up and a large FPD substrate has a side length of more than 2 meters.
- a large vacuum chamber corresponding to the large FPD substrate requires an extremely large thickness in order to ensure strength against an atmospheric pressure. As a result, a weight is increased and a material cost or a manufacturing cost is considerably increased.
- a reinforcing structure including beam members is provided at an outer side of an upper part (cover) of a vacuum chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to realize weight reduction and reduction of the material cost and the manufacturing cost while maintaining sufficient strength against an atmospheric pressure.
- a reinforcing structure including arch-shaped ribs for suppressing deformation of a ceiling plate of a vacuum chamber is provided at an outer side of the ceiling plate.
- an opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the cover of the vacuum chamber is provided.
- the strength is ensured by the reinforcing structures disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806.
- the effect of weight reduction is not sufficient because the reinforcing structures have weights of about 1.5 tons and about 2.0 tons, respectively.
- it is required to scale up the opening/closing mechanism.
- the cover is opened/closed by a ceiling crane installed in a user's factory without using the opening/closing mechanism.
- the weight of the cover exceeds a tolerable range of the ceiling crane due to the heavy weights of the reinforcing structures.
- the disclosure provides a reinforcing structure capable of realizing desired weight reduction, a vacuum chamber having the reinforcing structure, and a plasma processing apparatus.
- a reinforcing structure in which a plurality of beam members provided on a top surface of a cover of a vacuum chamber for performing predetermined processing on a substrate is combined to reinforce the cover, including: a ring-shaped portion formed by arranging beam members in a ring shape at a central region of the top surface of the cover; and a radial portion formed by radially extending beam members from the ring-shaped portion.
- FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing a plasma processing apparatus including a reinforcing structure according to an embodiment
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a vacuum chamber of the plasma processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is a top view showing the reinforcing structure according to the embodiment.
- FIG. 4 explains a state at the time of opening/closing a cover of the vacuum chamber by a crane
- FIG. 5 is a top view showing a reinforcing structure according to another embodiment.
- FIG. 6 is a top view showing a reinforcing structure according to still another embodiment.
- FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing a plasma processing apparatus including a reinforcing structure according to an embodiment.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a vacuum chamber of the plasma processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 3 is a top view showing the reinforcing structure according to the embodiment.
- a plasma processing apparatus 100 is configured as an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus for performing plasma processing, e.g., plasma etching, on a rectangular glass substrate for use in FPD (hereinafter, simply referred to as “substrate”) G.
- the FPD may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), an electro Luminescence (EL) display, a plasma display panel (PDP) or the like.
- the plasma processing apparatus 100 includes a vacuum chamber 1 having an inner wall surface made of a conductive material, e.g., anodically oxidized aluminum.
- the vacuum chamber 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a rectangular cross sectional shape.
- the vacuum chamber 1 is grounded by a ground line 1 a .
- the vacuum chamber 1 includes a chamber main body 2 , a cover 3 , and a reinforcing structure 4 .
- the chamber main body 2 has a bottom wall 2 a and a sidewall 2 b and an opening at an upper portion thereof.
- the opening can be opened/closed by the cover 3 .
- a processing space 5 is formed inside the chamber main body 2 .
- a substrate mounting table 10 for mounting thereon the substrate G is provided on the bottom wall 2 a of the chamber main body 2 through an insulating member 9 made of resin or insulating ceramic such as alumina or the like.
- the substrate mounting table 10 includes a base 11 made of a metal, e.g., aluminum, and an insulating ring 12 provided around the base 11 .
- an electrostatic chuck for attracting and holding the substrate G is provided on a top surface of the substrate mounting table 10 , and elevating pins used for transferring the substrate G penetrate through the substrate mounting table 10 .
- the substrate mounting table 10 is provided with a temperature control unit for controlling a temperature of the substrate G and a temperature sensor.
- a plurality of gas exhaust ports 13 is provided at the bottom wall 2 a of the chamber main body 2 .
- Gas exhaust lines 14 are connected to the respective gas exhaust ports 13 .
- the gas exhaust lines 14 are connected to gas exhaust units 15 , each including an automatic pressure control valve and a vacuum pump.
- the processing space 5 is vacuum-evacuated by the gas exhaust units 15 and a pressure in the processing space 5 is controlled to a predetermined pressure.
- a loading/unloading port 16 for loading/unloading the substrate G into/from the processing space 5 .
- the loading/unloading port 16 can be opened/closed by a gate valve 17 .
- a transfer chamber (not shown) is provided near the chamber main body 2 . By opening the gate valve 17 , the substrate G can be loaded into and unloaded from the processing space 5 through the loading/unloading port 16 by a transfer unit (not shown) provided in the transfer chamber.
- the base 11 of the substrate mounting table 10 is connected to a high frequency bias power supply 19 for applying a high frequency bias power for ion attraction via a matching unit 18 .
- the cover 3 includes a ceiling wall 3 a , a sidewall 3 b , and a dielectric wall 21 serving as a bottom wall.
- the dielectric wall 21 also serves as a ceiling wall of the chamber main body 2 . A space surrounded by those walls becomes an antenna space 6 .
- the dielectric wall 21 is made of quartz, ceramic such as Al 2 O 3 or the like.
- a ring-shaped supporting member 22 having an inwardly protruding ring-shaped supporting portion 22 a is provided below the sidewall 3 b .
- the dielectric wall 21 is supported by the ring-shaped supporting portion 22 a .
- the dielectric wall 21 and the ring-shaped supporting member 22 are sealed by a seal ring 23 .
- a shower housing 24 for supplying a processing gas is made of a metal, e.g., aluminum.
- the shower housing 24 is fitted to a lower portion of the dielectric wall 21 .
- the shower housing 24 is formed in a cross shape and has a structure, e.g., a beam structure, for supporting the dielectric wall 21 from the bottom.
- the dielectric wall 21 is divided into a plurality of pieces.
- the shower housing 24 supports the divided pieces at contact portions between adjacent divided pieces.
- the shower housing 24 for supporting the dielectric wall 21 is suspended from the ceiling wall 3 a by a plurality of suspenders 25 .
- the ring-shaped supporting member 22 and the shower housing 24 may be coated with a dielectric material.
- a gas channel 26 extending horizontally is formed in the shower housing 24 .
- a plurality of gas injection holes 26 a extending downward communicates with the gas channel 26 .
- a gas supply line 27 is provided at a central portion of a top surface of the dielectric wall 21 to communicate with the gas channel 26 .
- the gas supply line 27 penetrates through the ceiling wall 3 a or the sidewall 3 b and is connected to a processing gas supply unit 28 including a processing gas supply source, a valve system and the like. Therefore, when the plasma processing is performed, the processing gas is supplied from the processing gas supply unit 28 to the gas channel 26 in the shower housing 24 through the gas supply line 27 and then is injected into the processing space 5 through the gas injection holes 26 a formed at the bottom surface of the shower housing 24 .
- a high frequency (RF) antenna 30 is provided in the antenna space 6 .
- the RF antenna 30 is formed by arranging an antenna line 31 made of a highly conductive metal such as copper, aluminum or the like in a conventional shape such as a ring shape, a spiral shape or the like.
- the RF antenna 30 may be a multiplex antenna having a plurality of antenna sections.
- a power feed member 33 extending to an upper portion in the antenna space 6 is connected to a terminal 32 of the antenna line 31 .
- a matching unit 34 is connected to the power feed member 33 .
- a high frequency power supply 36 is connected to the matching unit 34 through a power feed line 35 .
- the antenna line 31 of the RF antenna 30 is separated from the dielectric wall 21 by a spacer 38 made of an insulating material.
- a high frequency power having a predetermined frequency e.g., 13.56 MHz
- a predetermined frequency e.g. 13.56 MHz
- the cover 3 When the cover 3 is attached to the chamber main body 2 , the cover 3 is fixed by screws (not shown). A gap between the chamber main body 2 and the cover 3 is sealed by a seal ring 37 .
- the reinforcing structure 4 is formed by combining a plurality of beam members made of H-shaped steel and provided on a rectangular top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 .
- the reinforcing structure 4 includes two first beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair of long sides 301 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 and two second beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair of short sides 302 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 .
- the first beam members 41 and the second beam members 42 are arranged in a parallel cross shape.
- the reinforcing structure 4 further includes four third beam members 43 extending in a diagonal direction from intersection points between the first beam members 41 and the second beam members 41 . These beam members are attached to the ceiling wall 3 a by fastening units such as bolts or the like.
- the first and the second beam members 41 and 42 are arranged such that the top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 is divided into (substantially) nine parts.
- Two central portions 41 a of the two first beam members 41 and two central portions 42 a of the two second beam members 42 form a ring-shaped portion 44 that is a rectangular frame body.
- End portions 41 b disposed at both sides of the central portions 41 a in the first beam members 41 , end portions 42 b disposed at both sides of the central portions 42 a in the second beam members 42 , and the third beam members 43 radially extend outward from the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- These beam members form a radial portion 45 .
- the reinforcing structure 4 includes the ring-shaped portion 44 formed by combining the beam members in a frame shape and provided at the central region of the top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 , and the radial portion 45 formed by radially extending the beam members outward from the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- the end portions 41 b of the first beam members 41 forming the radial portion 45 are perpendicular to the central portions 42 a of the second beam members 42 forming the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- the end portions 42 b of the second beam members 42 forming the radial portion 45 are perpendicular to the central portions 41 a of the first beam members 41 forming the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- the third beam members 43 forming the radial portion extend in a diagonal direction from corners of the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- a plate-shaped member 46 is provided between adjacent ones of the beam members (the end portions 41 b and 42 b and the third beam members 43 ) forming the radial portion 45 to correct the adjacent beam members.
- the plate-shaped member 46 is provided to improve the reinforcing effect of the reinforcing structure 4 .
- the plate-shaped member 46 is provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members of the radial portion 45 .
- the plate-shaped member 46 is not necessarily provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members and may be provided at at least a part of the gap. In the case of providing the plate-shaped member 46 at a part of the entire gap, it is ideal that the plate-shaped member 46 is provided symmetrically.
- the plate-shaped members 46 may be provided at a mechanically weak portion without symmetry.
- a width of the plate-shaped member 46 is set while considering balance between the reinforcing effect and the weight increase.
- the width of the plate-shaped member 46 is preferably about 20% to 80% and more preferably about 40% to 60% of the length of the beam members of the radial portion 45 which are adjacent thereto.
- An auxiliary beam member 47 is provided between the two facing end portions 41 b of the two first beam members 41 and between the two facing end portions 42 b of the two second beam members 42 at the outer side of the plate-shaped member 46 .
- the reinforcing structure 4 can maintain the high reinforcing effect while realizing the weight reduction.
- the ring-shaped portion 44 is provided at the central region of the top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a .
- a length of each side of the ring-shaped portion 44 is preferably about 30% to 80% of the side length of the ceiling wall 3 a . Accordingly, the reinforcing effect of the cover 3 can be maintained at a high level.
- the ring-shaped portion 44 has therein a space and the matching unit 34 that is a large device can be inserted in the space. As a consequence, it is possible to realize space saving.
- a large device that can be located in the ring-shaped portion 44 is not limited to the matching unit 34 .
- the plasma processing apparatus 100 further includes a control unit 50 having a microprocessor (computer) for controlling the respective components of the plasma processing apparatus 10 .
- a control unit 50 having a microprocessor (computer) for controlling the respective components of the plasma processing apparatus 10 .
- the processing space 5 is exhausted by the gas exhaust unit 15 so that a pressure in the processing space 5 can be set to a predetermined level.
- the gate valve 17 is opened and the substrate G is loaded through the loading/unloading port 16 by a transfer unit (not shown). Then, the substrate G is mounted on the substrate mounting table 10 . After the transfer unit is retreated from the processing space 5 , the gate valve 17 is closed.
- the processing space 5 is vacuum-evacuated and a pressure in the processing space 5 is controlled to a predetermined vacuum level by a pressure control valve (not shown).
- a predetermined processing gas is supplied into the processing space 5 from the processing gas supply unit 28 through the gas supply line 27 and the shower housing 24 .
- a high frequency power having a predetermined frequency (e.g., 13.56 MHz) is applied at a predetermined power level from the high frequency power supply 36 to the RF antenna 30 . Accordingly, an induced electric field is uniformly generated in the processing space 5 through the dielectric wall 21 .
- the processing gas is converted into a plasma in the processing space 5 by the induced electric field thus generated, thereby generating a high-density inductively coupled plasma.
- the predetermined plasma processing e.g., film formation or etching, is performed on the substrate G by the plasma thus generated.
- the vacuum chamber 1 is also scaled up. Therefore, the reinforcing structure 4 is provided to reduce the weight of the cover 3 while maintaining a sufficient strength against an atmospheric pressure at the time of setting the processing space 5 to a vacuum state.
- the techniques for reinforcing the cover by the reinforcing structure are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806.
- ensuring strength is important in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806 and, thus, the weight of the reinforcing structure is extremely increased to about 2 tons.
- the reinforcing structure disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 which is intended to ensure the strength and reduce the weight also has a weight of about 1.5 tons, which is insufficient to realize the weight reduction.
- the reinforcing structure 4 of the present embodiment is formed by combining a plurality of beam members on the rectangular top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 .
- the reinforcing structure 4 of the present embodiment includes the ring-shaped portion 44 formed by combining the beam members in a frame shape and provided at the central region of the top surface of the ceiling wall 3 a and the radial portion 45 formed by radially extending the beam members outward from the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- a certain level of strength can be ensured by the ring-shaped portion 44 provided at the central region and a sufficient strength can be obtained by radially arranging the beam members from the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- the structure obtained by combining the ring-shaped portion 44 provided at the central region and the radial portion 45 provides a high reinforcing effect.
- a desired strength can be ensured.
- the number of the beam members can be reduced due to a simple structure. Accordingly, the weight of the reinforcing structure 4 can be reduced.
- a length of each side of the ring-shaped portion 44 is preferably about 30% to 60% of the side length of the ceiling wall 3 a in order to maintain the reinforcing effect of the cover 3 at a high level.
- the end portions 41 b of the first beam members 41 which form the radial portion 45 are perpendicular to the central portions 42 a of the second beam members 42 forming the ring-shaped portion 44 .
- the end portions 42 b of the second beam members 42 which form the radial portion 45 are perpendicular to the central portions 41 a of the first beam members 41 forming the ring-shaped portion 44 . Therefore, the reinforcing effect of the radial portion 45 can be improved.
- the radial portion 45 the four third beam members 43 extending in a diagonal direction from the intersection points between the first beam members 41 and the second beam members 42 , the inner portion of the ring-shaped portion 44 of the cover 3 is reinforced and, thus, the reinforcing effect can be further increased. With the above configuration, the weight reduction effect can be further improved.
- the reinforcing structure 4 includes the two first beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair of long sides 301 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 and the two second beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair of short sides 302 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 .
- These beam members are arranged in a parallel cross shape, thereby forming the ring-shaped portion 44 and the radial portion 45 .
- This is basically the combination of the long beam members.
- the combination of the long beam members provides a higher reinforcing effect compared to the combination of short beam members. Therefore, the reinforcing effect can be further improved and the weight reduction effect can be further improved.
- the reinforcing effect and the weight reduction effect can be further improved.
- the reinforcing effect to the reinforcing structure 4 can be improved. Since the plate-shaped member 46 has a plate shape, the reinforcing effect can be improved without a considerable increase in the weight, which is advantageous when it is required to further improve the reinforcing effect obtained by combining the ring-shaped portion 44 and the radial portion 45 . At this time, the width of the plate-shaped member 46 may be appropriately set while considering the balance between the reinforcing effect and the weight increase. In other words, when the width of the plate-shaped member 46 is increased, the reinforcing effect is improved.
- the reinforcing effect is saturated and an adverse effect due to the increase in the weight of the plate-shaped member 46 is increased when the width exceeds a certain level.
- the width of the plate-shaped member 46 is preferably about 20% to 80% and more preferably about 40% to 60% of the length of the beam members adjacent to the plate-shaped member 46 .
- the plate-shaped member 46 is not necessarily provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members. A certain effect can be obtained by providing the plate-shaped member 46 at at least a part of the gap between the adjacent beam members.
- the reinforcing structure 4 capable of realizing desired weight reduction can be obtained.
- the weight of the reinforcing structure which is about 1.5 tons in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and about 2 tons in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806 to about 1 ton.
- the plasma processing apparatus 100 has the opening/closing mechanism of the cover 3 , the scaling up of the opening/closing mechanism can be suppressed and a cost increase of the opening/closing mechanism can be prevented.
- the weight of the reinforcing structure 4 can be reduced, the weight of the cover 3 can be within a tolerable range of a conventional ceiling crane. Accordingly, the cover can be opened/closed by the ceiling crane installed in a user's factory without using the opening/closing mechanism. As a result, the apparatus cost can be reduced.
- a crane opening/closing operation is performed by providing a crane opening/closing jig 61 at the cover 3 and directly or indirectly engaging a hook 63 of the crane with the crane opening/closing jig 61 , as can be seen from FIG. 4 .
- the crane opening/closing jigs 61 are provided at a plurality of positions of the cover and a rope is coupled to the crane opening/closing jigs 61 .
- the rope 62 is engaged with the hook 63 of the crane and the cover 3 is moved up and down by the crane. Accordingly, the opening/closing of the cover 3 is carried out. It is also possible to provide a crane opening/closing jig directly coupled to the hook of the crane at the cover 3 .
- the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and may be variously modified within the scope of the present disclosure.
- the present disclosure is applied to the inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus in which the dielectric wall is used as the ceiling wall of the chamber main body defining the processing space.
- the present disclosure may be applied to an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus using a metal wall instead of the dielectric wall and may also be applied to another plasma processing apparatus such as a capacitively coupled parallel plate plasma processing apparatus, a microwave plasma processing apparatus or the like.
- the present disclosure is not limited to the plasma processing apparatus and may be applied to a vacuum chamber for performing vacuum processing using no plasma, such as thermal CVD or the like.
- the third beam members 43 extend diagonally.
- the ceiling wall 3 a and the ring-shaped portion 44 have similar shapes having the same aspect ratio.
- the ceiling wall 3 a and the ring-shaped portion 44 do not necessarily have the similar shapes.
- the third beam members 43 may be arranged to connect the corners of the ring-shaped portion 44 and the corners of the ceiling wall 3 a.
- the reinforcing structure includes the ring-shaped portion 44 and the radial portion 45 which are formed by arranging in a parallel cross shape the two first beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel to the pair of long sides 301 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 and the two second beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel to the pair of short sides 302 of the ceiling wall 3 a of the cover 3 .
- the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
- a reinforcing structure 4 ′ including a ring-shaped portion 44 ′ formed by combining first beam members 81 corresponding to long sides and second beam members 82 corresponding to short sides and a radial portion 45 ′ formed by third beam members 83 perpendicularly extending outward from the second beam members 82 forming the ring-shaped portion 44 ′, fourth beam members 84 perpendicularly extending outward from the first beam members 81 , and fifth beam members 85 obliquely extending outward from corners of the ring-shaped portion 44 ′.
- a reinforcing structure 4 ′′ including a cylindrical ring-shaped portion 44 ′′ formed by a circular beam member 91 provided at a central region of a top surface of a circular cover and a radial portion 45 ′′ formed by arranging a plurality of linear beam members 92 directed outward from the cylindrical ring-shaped portion 44 ′′, as can be seen from FIG. 6 .
- H-shaped steel for the beam members forming the reinforcing structure.
- steel having other shapes such as an L-shaped cross section (angle), a C-shaped cross section (channel) and the like may be used instead of H-shaped steel.
- other types of materials such as a timber, a hollow pipe, a plate and the like may also be used.
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Abstract
Description
- This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-123367 filed on Jun. 22, 2016, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
- The disclosure relates to a reinforcing structure for reinforcing a cover of a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber having the reinforcing structure, and a plasma processing apparatus.
- In manufacturing a flat panel display (FPD) represented by a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma processing such as plasma etching, sputtering, plasma CVD or the like is performed on a glass substrate for use in FPD.
- In a plasma processing apparatus for performing the plasma processing, vacuum processing is required and, thus, a vacuum chamber, which can be evacuated, is used as a processing chamber. The vacuum chamber includes a main body and a cover having thicknesses enough to endure a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the vacuum chamber.
- Recently, however, a FPD substrate is considerably scaled up and a large FPD substrate has a side length of more than 2 meters. A large vacuum chamber corresponding to the large FPD substrate requires an extremely large thickness in order to ensure strength against an atmospheric pressure. As a result, a weight is increased and a material cost or a manufacturing cost is considerably increased.
- As a technique for solving the above drawbacks, in Japanese Patent No. 5285403, a reinforcing structure including beam members is provided at an outer side of an upper part (cover) of a vacuum chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to realize weight reduction and reduction of the material cost and the manufacturing cost while maintaining sufficient strength against an atmospheric pressure. In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806, a reinforcing structure including arch-shaped ribs for suppressing deformation of a ceiling plate of a vacuum chamber is provided at an outer side of the ceiling plate.
- In a conventional plasma processing apparatus, an opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the cover of the vacuum chamber is provided. In a large vacuum chamber corresponding to a large substrate having a side length of more than 2 meters, the strength is ensured by the reinforcing structures disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806. However, the effect of weight reduction is not sufficient because the reinforcing structures have weights of about 1.5 tons and about 2.0 tons, respectively. Also, it is required to scale up the opening/closing mechanism. Recently, in view of cost reduction, the cover is opened/closed by a ceiling crane installed in a user's factory without using the opening/closing mechanism. However, in the case of the reinforcing structures disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806, the weight of the cover exceeds a tolerable range of the ceiling crane due to the heavy weights of the reinforcing structures.
- In view of the above, the disclosure provides a reinforcing structure capable of realizing desired weight reduction, a vacuum chamber having the reinforcing structure, and a plasma processing apparatus.
- In accordance with an aspect, there is provided a reinforcing structure in which a plurality of beam members provided on a top surface of a cover of a vacuum chamber for performing predetermined processing on a substrate is combined to reinforce the cover, including: a ring-shaped portion formed by arranging beam members in a ring shape at a central region of the top surface of the cover; and a radial portion formed by radially extending beam members from the ring-shaped portion.
- The objects and features of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments, given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing a plasma processing apparatus including a reinforcing structure according to an embodiment; -
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a vacuum chamber of the plasma processing apparatus shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a top view showing the reinforcing structure according to the embodiment; -
FIG. 4 explains a state at the time of opening/closing a cover of the vacuum chamber by a crane; -
FIG. 5 is a top view showing a reinforcing structure according to another embodiment; and -
FIG. 6 is a top view showing a reinforcing structure according to still another embodiment. - Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing a plasma processing apparatus including a reinforcing structure according to an embodiment.FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a vacuum chamber of the plasma processing apparatus shown inFIG. 1 .FIG. 3 is a top view showing the reinforcing structure according to the embodiment. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , aplasma processing apparatus 100 is configured as an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus for performing plasma processing, e.g., plasma etching, on a rectangular glass substrate for use in FPD (hereinafter, simply referred to as “substrate”) G. The FPD may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), an electro Luminescence (EL) display, a plasma display panel (PDP) or the like. - The
plasma processing apparatus 100 includes avacuum chamber 1 having an inner wall surface made of a conductive material, e.g., anodically oxidized aluminum. Thevacuum chamber 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a rectangular cross sectional shape. Thevacuum chamber 1 is grounded by a ground line 1 a. Thevacuum chamber 1 includes a chambermain body 2, acover 3, and a reinforcing structure 4. - The chamber
main body 2 has abottom wall 2 a and asidewall 2 b and an opening at an upper portion thereof. The opening can be opened/closed by thecover 3. By closing the opening by thecover 3, aprocessing space 5 is formed inside the chambermain body 2. - At a bottom portion in the
processing space 5, a substrate mounting table 10 for mounting thereon the substrate G is provided on thebottom wall 2 a of the chambermain body 2 through an insulatingmember 9 made of resin or insulating ceramic such as alumina or the like. The substrate mounting table 10 includes abase 11 made of a metal, e.g., aluminum, and aninsulating ring 12 provided around thebase 11. Although it is not illustrated, an electrostatic chuck for attracting and holding the substrate G is provided on a top surface of the substrate mounting table 10, and elevating pins used for transferring the substrate G penetrate through the substrate mounting table 10. Further, although it is not illustrated, the substrate mounting table 10 is provided with a temperature control unit for controlling a temperature of the substrate G and a temperature sensor. - A plurality of
gas exhaust ports 13 is provided at thebottom wall 2 a of the chambermain body 2.Gas exhaust lines 14 are connected to the respectivegas exhaust ports 13. Thegas exhaust lines 14 are connected togas exhaust units 15, each including an automatic pressure control valve and a vacuum pump. Theprocessing space 5 is vacuum-evacuated by thegas exhaust units 15 and a pressure in theprocessing space 5 is controlled to a predetermined pressure. - Provided at the
sidewall 2 b of the chambermain body 2 is a loading/unloadingport 16 for loading/unloading the substrate G into/from theprocessing space 5. The loading/unloading port 16 can be opened/closed by agate valve 17. A transfer chamber (not shown) is provided near the chambermain body 2. By opening thegate valve 17, the substrate G can be loaded into and unloaded from theprocessing space 5 through the loading/unloading port 16 by a transfer unit (not shown) provided in the transfer chamber. Thebase 11 of the substrate mounting table 10 is connected to a high frequencybias power supply 19 for applying a high frequency bias power for ion attraction via a matchingunit 18. - The
cover 3 includes aceiling wall 3 a, asidewall 3 b, and adielectric wall 21 serving as a bottom wall. Thedielectric wall 21 also serves as a ceiling wall of the chambermain body 2. A space surrounded by those walls becomes anantenna space 6. Thedielectric wall 21 is made of quartz, ceramic such as Al2O3 or the like. - A ring-shaped supporting
member 22 having an inwardly protruding ring-shaped supportingportion 22 a is provided below thesidewall 3 b. Thedielectric wall 21 is supported by the ring-shaped supportingportion 22 a. Thedielectric wall 21 and the ring-shaped supportingmember 22 are sealed by aseal ring 23. - A
shower housing 24 for supplying a processing gas is made of a metal, e.g., aluminum. Theshower housing 24 is fitted to a lower portion of thedielectric wall 21. Theshower housing 24 is formed in a cross shape and has a structure, e.g., a beam structure, for supporting thedielectric wall 21 from the bottom. Thedielectric wall 21 is divided into a plurality of pieces. Theshower housing 24, as a beam, supports the divided pieces at contact portions between adjacent divided pieces. Theshower housing 24 for supporting thedielectric wall 21 is suspended from theceiling wall 3 a by a plurality ofsuspenders 25. The ring-shaped supportingmember 22 and theshower housing 24 may be coated with a dielectric material. - A
gas channel 26 extending horizontally is formed in theshower housing 24. A plurality of gas injection holes 26 a extending downward communicates with thegas channel 26. Agas supply line 27 is provided at a central portion of a top surface of thedielectric wall 21 to communicate with thegas channel 26. Thegas supply line 27 penetrates through theceiling wall 3 a or thesidewall 3 b and is connected to a processinggas supply unit 28 including a processing gas supply source, a valve system and the like. Therefore, when the plasma processing is performed, the processing gas is supplied from the processinggas supply unit 28 to thegas channel 26 in theshower housing 24 through thegas supply line 27 and then is injected into theprocessing space 5 through the gas injection holes 26 a formed at the bottom surface of theshower housing 24. - A high frequency (RF)
antenna 30 is provided in theantenna space 6. TheRF antenna 30 is formed by arranging anantenna line 31 made of a highly conductive metal such as copper, aluminum or the like in a conventional shape such as a ring shape, a spiral shape or the like. TheRF antenna 30 may be a multiplex antenna having a plurality of antenna sections. - A
power feed member 33 extending to an upper portion in theantenna space 6 is connected to aterminal 32 of theantenna line 31. A matchingunit 34 is connected to thepower feed member 33. A highfrequency power supply 36 is connected to thematching unit 34 through apower feed line 35. Theantenna line 31 of theRF antenna 30 is separated from thedielectric wall 21 by aspacer 38 made of an insulating material. - By supplying a high frequency power having a predetermined frequency, e.g., 13.56 MHz, from the high
frequency power supply 36 to theRF antenna 30, an induced electric field is generated in theprocessing space 5. The processing gas supplied from theshower housing 24 is converted into a plasma by the induced electric field. As a consequence, an inductively coupled plasma is generated. - When the
cover 3 is attached to the chambermain body 2, thecover 3 is fixed by screws (not shown). A gap between the chambermain body 2 and thecover 3 is sealed by aseal ring 37. - As shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3 , the reinforcing structure 4 is formed by combining a plurality of beam members made of H-shaped steel and provided on a rectangular top surface of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3. Specifically, as shown inFIG. 3 , the reinforcing structure 4 includes twofirst beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair oflong sides 301 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3 and twosecond beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair ofshort sides 302 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3. Thefirst beam members 41 and thesecond beam members 42 are arranged in a parallel cross shape. The reinforcing structure 4 further includes fourthird beam members 43 extending in a diagonal direction from intersection points between thefirst beam members 41 and thesecond beam members 41. These beam members are attached to theceiling wall 3 a by fastening units such as bolts or the like. - The first and the
second beam members ceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3 is divided into (substantially) nine parts. Twocentral portions 41 a of the twofirst beam members 41 and twocentral portions 42 a of the twosecond beam members 42 form a ring-shapedportion 44 that is a rectangular frame body.End portions 41 b disposed at both sides of thecentral portions 41 a in thefirst beam members 41,end portions 42 b disposed at both sides of thecentral portions 42 a in thesecond beam members 42, and thethird beam members 43 radially extend outward from the ring-shapedportion 44. These beam members form aradial portion 45. In other words, the reinforcing structure 4 includes the ring-shapedportion 44 formed by combining the beam members in a frame shape and provided at the central region of the top surface of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3, and theradial portion 45 formed by radially extending the beam members outward from the ring-shapedportion 44. - The
end portions 41 b of thefirst beam members 41 forming theradial portion 45 are perpendicular to thecentral portions 42 a of thesecond beam members 42 forming the ring-shapedportion 44. Theend portions 42 b of thesecond beam members 42 forming theradial portion 45 are perpendicular to thecentral portions 41 a of thefirst beam members 41 forming the ring-shapedportion 44. Thethird beam members 43 forming the radial portion extend in a diagonal direction from corners of the ring-shapedportion 44. - A plate-shaped
member 46 is provided between adjacent ones of the beam members (theend portions radial portion 45 to correct the adjacent beam members. The plate-shapedmember 46 is provided to improve the reinforcing effect of the reinforcing structure 4. In the present embodiment, the plate-shapedmember 46 is provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members of theradial portion 45. However, the plate-shapedmember 46 is not necessarily provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members and may be provided at at least a part of the gap. In the case of providing the plate-shapedmember 46 at a part of the entire gap, it is ideal that the plate-shapedmember 46 is provided symmetrically. However, when thecover 3 has strength variation in terms of structure, the plate-shapedmembers 46 may be provided at a mechanically weak portion without symmetry. A width of the plate-shapedmember 46 is set while considering balance between the reinforcing effect and the weight increase. The width of the plate-shapedmember 46 is preferably about 20% to 80% and more preferably about 40% to 60% of the length of the beam members of theradial portion 45 which are adjacent thereto. - An
auxiliary beam member 47 is provided between the two facingend portions 41 b of the twofirst beam members 41 and between the two facingend portions 42 b of the twosecond beam members 42 at the outer side of the plate-shapedmember 46. - With the combination of the ring-shaped
portion 44 and theradial portion 45, the reinforcing structure 4 can maintain the high reinforcing effect while realizing the weight reduction. - As described above, the ring-shaped
portion 44 is provided at the central region of the top surface of theceiling wall 3 a. A length of each side of the ring-shapedportion 44 is preferably about 30% to 80% of the side length of theceiling wall 3 a. Accordingly, the reinforcing effect of thecover 3 can be maintained at a high level. The ring-shapedportion 44 has therein a space and thematching unit 34 that is a large device can be inserted in the space. As a consequence, it is possible to realize space saving. A large device that can be located in the ring-shapedportion 44 is not limited to thematching unit 34. - The
plasma processing apparatus 100 further includes acontrol unit 50 having a microprocessor (computer) for controlling the respective components of theplasma processing apparatus 10. - In the
plasma processing apparatus 100 configured as described above, first, theprocessing space 5 is exhausted by thegas exhaust unit 15 so that a pressure in theprocessing space 5 can be set to a predetermined level. Next, thegate valve 17 is opened and the substrate G is loaded through the loading/unloadingport 16 by a transfer unit (not shown). Then, the substrate G is mounted on the substrate mounting table 10. After the transfer unit is retreated from theprocessing space 5, thegate valve 17 is closed. - In that state, the
processing space 5 is vacuum-evacuated and a pressure in theprocessing space 5 is controlled to a predetermined vacuum level by a pressure control valve (not shown). At the same time, a predetermined processing gas is supplied into theprocessing space 5 from the processinggas supply unit 28 through thegas supply line 27 and theshower housing 24. - Next, a high frequency power having a predetermined frequency (e.g., 13.56 MHz) is applied at a predetermined power level from the high
frequency power supply 36 to theRF antenna 30. Accordingly, an induced electric field is uniformly generated in theprocessing space 5 through thedielectric wall 21. The processing gas is converted into a plasma in theprocessing space 5 by the induced electric field thus generated, thereby generating a high-density inductively coupled plasma. The predetermined plasma processing, e.g., film formation or etching, is performed on the substrate G by the plasma thus generated. - When the substrate G is a large substrate having a side length of more than 2 meters, the
vacuum chamber 1 is also scaled up. Therefore, the reinforcing structure 4 is provided to reduce the weight of thecover 3 while maintaining a sufficient strength against an atmospheric pressure at the time of setting theprocessing space 5 to a vacuum state. - The techniques for reinforcing the cover by the reinforcing structure are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806. In the case of considering application to a large apparatus, ensuring strength is important in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806 and, thus, the weight of the reinforcing structure is extremely increased to about 2 tons. The reinforcing structure disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 which is intended to ensure the strength and reduce the weight also has a weight of about 1.5 tons, which is insufficient to realize the weight reduction.
- On the other hand, the reinforcing structure 4 of the present embodiment is formed by combining a plurality of beam members on the rectangular top surface of the
ceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3. Further, the reinforcing structure 4 of the present embodiment includes the ring-shapedportion 44 formed by combining the beam members in a frame shape and provided at the central region of the top surface of theceiling wall 3 a and theradial portion 45 formed by radially extending the beam members outward from the ring-shapedportion 44. At this time, a certain level of strength can be ensured by the ring-shapedportion 44 provided at the central region and a sufficient strength can be obtained by radially arranging the beam members from the ring-shapedportion 44. - The structure obtained by combining the ring-shaped
portion 44 provided at the central region and theradial portion 45 provides a high reinforcing effect. In the case of employing such a structure, even if the thicknesses of the beam members are thinner than conventional ones, a desired strength can be ensured. In addition, the number of the beam members can be reduced due to a simple structure. Accordingly, the weight of the reinforcing structure 4 can be reduced. At this time, a length of each side of the ring-shapedportion 44 is preferably about 30% to 60% of the side length of theceiling wall 3 a in order to maintain the reinforcing effect of thecover 3 at a high level. - By providing the ring-shaped
portion 44 at the central region, a space can be ensured at the central region on the top surface of thecover 3 and a large device such as thematching unit 34 or the like can be installed therein. As a result, the space saving can be realized. - The
end portions 41 b of thefirst beam members 41 which form theradial portion 45 are perpendicular to thecentral portions 42 a of thesecond beam members 42 forming the ring-shapedportion 44. Theend portions 42 b of thesecond beam members 42 which form theradial portion 45 are perpendicular to thecentral portions 41 a of thefirst beam members 41 forming the ring-shapedportion 44. Therefore, the reinforcing effect of theradial portion 45 can be improved. By providing, as theradial portion 45, the fourthird beam members 43 extending in a diagonal direction from the intersection points between thefirst beam members 41 and thesecond beam members 42, the inner portion of the ring-shapedportion 44 of thecover 3 is reinforced and, thus, the reinforcing effect can be further increased. With the above configuration, the weight reduction effect can be further improved. - Further, the reinforcing structure 4 includes the two
first beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair oflong sides 301 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3 and the twosecond beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel along the entire length of a pair ofshort sides 302 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3. These beam members are arranged in a parallel cross shape, thereby forming the ring-shapedportion 44 and theradial portion 45. This is basically the combination of the long beam members. The combination of the long beam members provides a higher reinforcing effect compared to the combination of short beam members. Therefore, the reinforcing effect can be further improved and the weight reduction effect can be further improved. Further, by arranging the twofirst beam members 41 and the twosecond beam members 42 such that the top surface of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3 is divided into substantially nine parts, the reinforcing effect and the weight reduction effect can be further improved. - Furthermore, by providing the plate-shaped
member 46 at the gap between adjacent ones of the beam members forming theradial portion 45, the reinforcing effect to the reinforcing structure 4 can be improved. Since the plate-shapedmember 46 has a plate shape, the reinforcing effect can be improved without a considerable increase in the weight, which is advantageous when it is required to further improve the reinforcing effect obtained by combining the ring-shapedportion 44 and theradial portion 45. At this time, the width of the plate-shapedmember 46 may be appropriately set while considering the balance between the reinforcing effect and the weight increase. In other words, when the width of the plate-shapedmember 46 is increased, the reinforcing effect is improved. However, the reinforcing effect is saturated and an adverse effect due to the increase in the weight of the plate-shapedmember 46 is increased when the width exceeds a certain level. From the above, the width of the plate-shapedmember 46 is preferably about 20% to 80% and more preferably about 40% to 60% of the length of the beam members adjacent to the plate-shapedmember 46. The plate-shapedmember 46 is not necessarily provided at the entire gap between the adjacent beam members. A certain effect can be obtained by providing the plate-shapedmember 46 at at least a part of the gap between the adjacent beam members. - In the present embodiment, the reinforcing structure 4 capable of realizing desired weight reduction can be obtained. In the case of applying the reinforcing structure 4 of the present embodiment to a large plasma processing apparatus corresponding to a large substrate, it is possible to reduce the weight of the reinforcing structure which is about 1.5 tons in Japanese Patent No. 5285403 and about 2 tons in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-22806 to about 1 ton.
- Therefore, in the case where the
plasma processing apparatus 100 has the opening/closing mechanism of thecover 3, the scaling up of the opening/closing mechanism can be suppressed and a cost increase of the opening/closing mechanism can be prevented. - Since the weight of the reinforcing structure 4 can be reduced, the weight of the
cover 3 can be within a tolerable range of a conventional ceiling crane. Accordingly, the cover can be opened/closed by the ceiling crane installed in a user's factory without using the opening/closing mechanism. As a result, the apparatus cost can be reduced. - In the case of opening/closing the
cover 3 by the crane, a crane opening/closing operation is performed by providing a crane opening/closingjig 61 at thecover 3 and directly or indirectly engaging ahook 63 of the crane with the crane opening/closingjig 61, as can be seen fromFIG. 4 . In this example, the crane opening/closing jigs 61 are provided at a plurality of positions of the cover and a rope is coupled to the crane opening/closing jigs 61. Therope 62 is engaged with thehook 63 of the crane and thecover 3 is moved up and down by the crane. Accordingly, the opening/closing of thecover 3 is carried out. It is also possible to provide a crane opening/closing jig directly coupled to the hook of the crane at thecover 3. - The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and may be variously modified within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, in the above embodiments, the present disclosure is applied to the inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus in which the dielectric wall is used as the ceiling wall of the chamber main body defining the processing space. However, the present disclosure may be applied to an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus using a metal wall instead of the dielectric wall and may also be applied to another plasma processing apparatus such as a capacitively coupled parallel plate plasma processing apparatus, a microwave plasma processing apparatus or the like. Further, the present disclosure is not limited to the plasma processing apparatus and may be applied to a vacuum chamber for performing vacuum processing using no plasma, such as thermal CVD or the like.
- The above embodiments have described the example in which the
third beam members 43 extend diagonally. In that case, it is assumed that theceiling wall 3 a and the ring-shapedportion 44 have similar shapes having the same aspect ratio. However, theceiling wall 3 a and the ring-shapedportion 44 do not necessarily have the similar shapes. In that case, thethird beam members 43 may be arranged to connect the corners of the ring-shapedportion 44 and the corners of theceiling wall 3 a. - The above embodiments have described the example in which the reinforcing structure includes the ring-shaped
portion 44 and theradial portion 45 which are formed by arranging in a parallel cross shape the twofirst beam members 41 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel to the pair oflong sides 301 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3 and the twosecond beam members 42 having a linear shape and disposed in parallel to the pair ofshort sides 302 of theceiling wall 3 a of thecover 3. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. - For example, as shown in
FIG. 5 , there may be provided a reinforcing structure 4′ including a ring-shapedportion 44′ formed by combiningfirst beam members 81 corresponding to long sides andsecond beam members 82 corresponding to short sides and aradial portion 45′ formed bythird beam members 83 perpendicularly extending outward from thesecond beam members 82 forming the ring-shapedportion 44′,fourth beam members 84 perpendicularly extending outward from thefirst beam members 81, andfifth beam members 85 obliquely extending outward from corners of the ring-shapedportion 44′. - The above embodiments have described the example in which the present disclosure is applied to the vacuum chamber having a rectangular cross sectional shape and configured to process a rectangular substrate. However, it is not limited thereto and the present disclosure may also be applied to a vacuum chamber having a circular cross sectional shape and configured to process a circular substrate. In that case, there is provided a reinforcing structure 4″ including a cylindrical ring-shaped
portion 44″ formed by a circular beam member 91 provided at a central region of a top surface of a circular cover and aradial portion 45″ formed by arranging a plurality oflinear beam members 92 directed outward from the cylindrical ring-shapedportion 44″, as can be seen fromFIG. 6 . - The above embodiments have described the case of using H-shaped steel for the beam members forming the reinforcing structure. However, steel having other shapes such as an L-shaped cross section (angle), a C-shaped cross section (channel) and the like may be used instead of H-shaped steel. Further, other types of materials such as a timber, a hollow pipe, a plate and the like may also be used.
- While the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined in the following claims.
Claims (13)
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JP2016-123367 | 2016-06-22 | ||
JP2016123367A JP6719290B2 (en) | 2016-06-22 | 2016-06-22 | Reinforcement structure, vacuum chamber, and plasma processing equipment |
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JP (1) | JP6719290B2 (en) |
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US20200227236A1 (en) * | 2019-01-10 | 2020-07-16 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Inductively-Coupled Plasma Processing Apparatus |
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WO2023214725A1 (en) * | 2022-05-02 | 2023-11-09 | (주)에스제이오토메이션 | Lid opening and closing device |
KR102439228B1 (en) * | 2022-05-02 | 2022-09-02 | (주)에스제이오토메이션 | Door open-and-close device |
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US20200227236A1 (en) * | 2019-01-10 | 2020-07-16 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Inductively-Coupled Plasma Processing Apparatus |
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KR101918850B1 (en) | 2018-11-14 |
TW201810420A (en) | 2018-03-16 |
CN107527783B (en) | 2019-06-28 |
JP6719290B2 (en) | 2020-07-08 |
CN107527783A (en) | 2017-12-29 |
JP2017228633A (en) | 2017-12-28 |
KR20180000313A (en) | 2018-01-02 |
TWI720204B (en) | 2021-03-01 |
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